Deception
by iminlovewithaboy95
Summary: Don't judge a book by it's cover.
1. Chapter 1

As I climbed out of the taxi I immediately began to look for someone who could tell me where the office was. I didn't want to look like an idiot wondering around like a lost puppy. I stopped the first person that walked by. She looked friendly enough. She pointed me toward the middle building.

I thanked her and headed over, rolling my suit case behind me. It wasn't until that moment that I really stopped to look at the huge campus. There were three buildings there. All of them are huge and oddly homelike. Not what you would expect of a boarding school. I guessed that the buildings on the left and right were the girls and boys dorms and the one in the middle was where classes and school activities were held. It was also the biggest building.

I walked through the doors of the biggest building to see the halls filled with students. My guess was that classes were over for the day. It seemed that as I gawked at the interestingly colorful interior, everybody was staring at me. It's like they had never seen a new student before. I swear I saw a couple guys do a double take, and the girls giving me dirty looks. I just rolled my eyes and made my way to the end of the hallway where there was a sign that indicated where the office was.

As I was walking I thought back to what brought me to this situation.

It was all over the news for days. There was a girl in my old school that was alone at home one night. There was a break in; the girl was beaten severely, shot, and left to die. Anything remotely valuable was stolen from the house. Her parents were devastated, of course more about her death than the robbery. They were completely broke and had nowhere to live. Most of the windows in the house were broken. And everything was knocked over, probably from the struggle with the girl. They had to move in with relatives, which didn't help them trying to cope with their daughter's death.

My mom of course got very concerned after that. Her job required her to be away for long periods of time. She started looking for a good boarding school where she knew I would be safe.

"Brooke, I know you don't want to go and I really hate tearing you away from your friends and your life here but I'm only doing what is best for you."

By the look of the people here I might have been safer back home. I thought as I passed a girl who stuck up her nose at me. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of wearing a school uniform but they didn't seem too awful looking. I guess I could get used to them.

I went and got my schedule and room number from the office and headed toward my dorm. Apparently I had a roommate named Becca. I really hoped she was nice unlike half the chicks I had seen so far. I also hoped she liked me. It would be pretty hard to get along if neither of us liked each other.

I walked down the hall until I got to the room with a pink 33 on it. I grimaced at the color. Hopefully we could get along and I could convince her to change that awful color. I set my suit case down to find the key that the office had given me for my room. I searched through my pockets until I realized that I had put it in the front pocket of my suit case. I finally pulled it out and unlocked the door.

My roommate was not inside I realized with a relieved sigh. I wanted to at least get unpacked and settled in before I met her. Slowly I took in the sight of the room. The first thing I noticed was the walls… bright fluorescent pink. It was already making me dizzy. There was a desk in the corner with a small lamp on it and books scattered. There were two beds in the room one with a pink comforter and matching pillows. I was starting to get a headache. I looked at the dresser next to it, which seemed to be serving as a night stand and a dresser with an alarm clock on the top. On top was also a variety of perfumes from Hollister and Pink of course.

Across from the beds was another door, which I guessed was the bathroom, with a closet on either side of it. I went and sat my suitcase on the bed that only had simple white sheets on it with one pillow. I would have to go shopping to get some homey things to add to my side of the room. Add some color other than pink so I didn't start twitching every time I walked into the room.

I unzipped my suitcase and began unpacking my clothes and putting them into the dresser closest to my bed. Once I was done with that I grabbed my bag of toiletries and put them in the bathroom. I looked at the time then, it was only about three thirty and classes had just let out. I found my wallet in my purse and grabbed my key heading for the door. My mom had given me enough money to buy the stuff I couldn't take with me, enough that I could get through until I could get a good job.

I could get directions to the nearest mall from the office. They seemed to have everything there. I think I saw a couple maps that would be very helpful. If only I could find a bus station…

As I was walking out the door I almost ran into someone who I'm guessing was Becca, raising her hand to stick her key in the door.

"Whoops sorry." I laughed nervously, giving her an apologetic look.

"It's fine." She smiled a welcoming smile. "You must be Brooke Waters, my new roommate. I'm Becca. It's nice to meet you." She stuck her hand out for me to shake it.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said shaking her hand and smiling. She seemed very nice, thank god. That's one less thing to worry about.

"So where are you headed?"

"I was just going to go to the mall and get some new clothes and some new bedding."

She looked thoughtful "What if I went with you? You know showed you around, where the good hangouts are. I know how it is being new. I think you will fit in good here." She looked like she was waiting for me to respond but then had another thought. "Do you have a car?"

I just shook my head.

"What if I gave you a ride? I don't think you want to ride the bus. Been there done that."

"Sure, that sounds great. Thanks." "I almost forgot, my friends and I were going to meet up for dinner later. Would you like to come and meet some people so when you start going to classes you aren't a complete stranger to everyone?"

Wow this girl really could talk a lot. "Sure, why not." She grinned at me probably happy she was being helpful.

"Let's go!" she started skipping down the hall. I walked behind following her. She suddenly turned around "Oh, have you ever ridden in a convertible?"

"No" I said curiously wondering why she was asking. She put on a pair of sunglasses and smiled "It's your lucky day."

I followed Becca to the parking lot and just stood and stared when she walked up and got into a lime green mustang convertible. I realized my jaw had dropped and had to close my mouth.

Becca opened the passenger side door from the driver's seat.

"Are you coming?"

I slowly got in the car careful not to move too much. I was afraid to damage any part of this car, especially the beautiful leather interior of it.

Even though it was late September the sun was beating down on us and I was suddenly thankful that this was a convertible. I had better get used to the hot weather, because I was now living in Phoenix, Arizona.

Students stared as Becca sped out of the parking lot and onto the busy roads of the city. My hair blew all around my face while I tried to move it out of my eyes to look around. Finally I took a ponytail out and tied my hair up, able to enjoy the ride now. Feeling the warm soothing air rushing around me I loved that just the smell was peaceful soothing thing. Even if we were in the city it was really nice.

While Becca drove I tried to keep track of the turns she made, trying to make a mental map in my head, but trying to sight see at the same time. It is quite a mission multitasking like that.

•

By the time we finished shopping for all new clothes, bedding for me it was almost six o'clock, and we had 9 bags full from 4 different stores.

We stuffed everything into the trunk of Becca's convertible and headed to wherever to meet her friend which I hoped would soon be mine too. We walked up to a table with four people sitting at it. There were two boys and two girls. One of the girls was sitting on top of the one guys lap so I assumed that they were a couple.

The four greeted me happily and started to introduce themselves. The first guy stood and shook my hand "I'm Nathan" he said. He had light brown hair and green eyes. He looked like a very kind person, but he also seemed kind of gay.

"I'm Brooke," I said back.

The next was a girl that had long black hair and piercing purple eyes. She was stunningly beautiful but she seemed really shy. "My name is May" she smiled. I nodded at her.

The other girl that was sitting on top of the guy was a blonde with blue eyes and she didn't seem very friendly. She just looked at me and continued to hang all over her guy.

Becca rolled her eyes. "Excuse her rudeness. That's Lea and that's Cole." Cole looked up then and nodded at me, defiantly nicer than Lea. He was also very attractive: very dark brown hair with eyes the color between brown and green. I refrained from voicing that opinion, however. I was afraid that Lea would surely rip my head off.

They were all such different people but they seemed to get along with each other. That was a good thing because it meant that there was a better chance that I would fit in with them.

We sat and joined them and Becca struck up a conversation right away. "So Brooke, we are all going to the guy's dorm to watch a movie after we eat. Do you want to come?"

I shrugged. "I guess it kind of depends on what you're watching." I answered honestly.

Becca smiled "Well since it was Nathan's turn to pick the movie, we are watching Star Wars."

I looked at Nathan curiously. He gave a nervous laugh. "What? Anakin is cute!"

Leah chimed in then, "In case nobody told you, Nathan is gay."

I just smiled kind of awkwardly "I like Star Wars, so sure I'll come." When the waiter came we all ordered our food. The rest of the group started talking about things that had happened during the day. All the horrible teachers and the tons of homework they had. I sat there laughing at the stories they told. When the food arrived the conversation stopped temporarily. I suddenly had a random question to ask while I had the chance.

"Are we allowed to have pets? Like in our dorms?"

Becca was the one that answered. "Anything but a bird."

I laughed. "Why?"

"Well, a lot of people have cats and it doesn't really go so well."

I laughed. "Yeah, I could just imagine a cat prancing down the hall with a bird hanging out of its mouth." Everyone laughed at that. I felt the slight tension from having me there start to fade and found myself getting more comfortable with these people.

When we all finished eating, we headed back to campus. Becca and I went back to our room to get some popcorn. Apparently they watched movies together fairly often so they stayed stocked up on popcorn and snacks.

We sat down on the couch and around it in the boys lounge. We started the movie. I looked over at one point and saw Nathan mouthing the words as the characters said them. He had obviously watched this movie way too much.

About half way through the movie Becca stood up. "Brooke do you think you could get back without me? I'm getting kind of tired I'm going to turn in early."

"Yeah, I think I'm good."

"Night guys." Instead of saying goodnight back most of them just shushed her.

When the movie was over I stretched and thanked them for inviting me. I started toward the dorm. About the quarter of the way to the girl's dorm I heard someone shouting trying to be quiet but unfortunately not succeeding.

I hid behind a nearby tree and peeked around it. There was a guy there pacing in a small circle holding a cell phone to his ear. I caught the end of the conversation he was having with whoever was on the other end of the call. He sounded like he had given up on whatever he was trying to do. "Fine! Let me rot in this hell!" Then he threw his phone. It landed near the tree that I was behind.

I slowly came out from behind the tree. His back was turned to me and his hands were placed on the back of his head like he was trying to calm down. Apparently he didn't hear me at first because when I suddenly stepped on a twig when I was right behind him, he whirled around like I had scared him and stepped back quickly. He looked like he was expecting an attack. He dropped his hands to his sides.

"Um... sorry I just…uh…well, I found this laying over there and thought it might be yours…" I sounded like I was scared or shy, which I hated because I really didn't have anything to be afraid of, and I'm not usually a shy person. There was just something about this guy that made me nervous. Maybe the fear of this guy getting mad at me but that was it.

Without taking the phone he looked at me and cocked his head to the side. "I haven't seen you before. Are you new?"

I hesitated, struggling to speak. "Um, yeah. I just got here today." He seemed to realize that I was still holding the phone out. He hesitantly stepped forward and took the phone from my hand.

"Uh, thanks." For a second he looked just as nervous and shy as me. Which I thought was odd. Why would he be shy around me?

When he stepped forward he didn't really step back again he just kind of stood there looking at me curiously. When he had stepped forward he stepped into the light of one of the lamps nearby. This gave me a chance to get a good look at him and man was it a good look. He was enchanting. His hair was black and curly, almost shoulder length. His eyes were a breathtaking sky blue; they looked older than they should though, like he had seen too much for his young life. It made me wonder about the phone call. He looked very kind, even if he seemed like he didn't get to use his social skills.

His body wasn't any less tantalizing than his face. He was wearing a very well fitted black short sleeve shirt that showed off his six-pack abs and perfect arm muscles. He had on regular blue jeans that seemed worn. To tie it all off he was wearing army boots. This guy was without a doubt the most handsome guy I had ever seen. He was like a movie star, but so much better.

Finally when I thought I was capable of speech I put my hand out and said, "I'm Brooke Waters."

Hesitantly he took my hand and shook it slowly. "Shane Collins." Then he looked at me like he was waiting for a major reaction, waiting for a bad reaction. He looked at me curiously; like he was wondering why I wasn't screaming and running away. We stood there for I don't even know how long just looking into each other's eyes. Curiosity in his like he saw something in me he had never seen in anyone else. I wondered what he was thinking; if he was thinking the same thing as me or something different entirely.

Suddenly it was as if he was broken out of a trance. He just avoided my eyes and said barely above a whisper, "Thanks again. Uh…bye." Then strode quickly away.

I stood there for another minute trying to make the flutter in my stomach go away. I didn't know why it was there. I had just met this guy. What was I thinking? By the time I got back to my room I was smiling like an idiot for no reason. Becca didn't seem to notice. She was on her bed flipping through a magazine. Without looking up she asked how the movie was. I kind of mumbled that it was fine, not really thinking about the movie at all.

She seemed to realize that that kind of answer wasn't normal for me. Jeez. She must be really good at reading people considering I just met her.

"What's wrong?" she said looking up from her magazine. Before I could respond she spoke again. "Did they say something to you?" Then she saw my stupid smile. She grinned "Okay what? Tell me what happened you look like your head is way up in the clouds."

"Nothing I just stopped and talked to someone on the way. Nothing major, just trying to make more friends." I grabbed my pajamas and head to the bathroom to change.

"Who?" Becca asked me.

"Just a person, I barely even talked to him anyway."

"Ooo, so it's a guy." She raised her eye brows at me. "If you didn't talk, then what did you do?"

I laughed. "Nothing"

"So who was it?"

I struggled to remember the name. "Shane Collins" She suddenly jumped to her feet.

"Brooke you have to stay away from him!"

"Why?"

"He's dangerous!"

"He didn't seem very dangerous to me."

"He killed his older brother Brooke." She said. I looked at her closely to see if she was joking.

The boy I met didn't seem like he was capable of killing anyone.

"Brooke, promise me you won't talk to him again!" I hesitated still not really believing it. Eventually I nodded, knowing I wasn't going to keep that promise.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day I woke up around two o'clock. I was glad it was Saturday. When I looked over I saw that Becca wasn't in her bed. Of course she wouldn't be, it was two o'clock in the afternoon. She probably had plans, unlike me who had absolutely no life at this school yet. I would just have to walk around the city a little bit. Find out where everything is. I also needed to find the cheapest car I could get because walking everywhere was not going to work.

My stomach started to growl so I got dressed and headed down for breakfast. Well, I guess it would be lunch now. When I got down to the cafeteria Becca, Cole, May, Lea and Nathan were already at a table looking sleepy eyed. I guess I wasn't the only one that slept in today. Becca must have left shortly before I got up. I got my food and sat down beside them. I saw something out the corner of my eye. Someone was staring at me I could feel it. I looked over to see the boy from last night staring at me. When I looked over at him he quickly glanced away.

The people at my table didn't seem to notice they were too busy talking about their plans for the day. Some were going shopping; others were watching a Star Trek Marathon (Nathan of course). I had been sitting there just listening until Becca invited me to go to the mall with her. I Accepted happily, glad I didn't have to look like a loner all day. We decided to split up at the mall and meet at the food court around 4 o'clock.

I bought a bunch of tank tops and a couple pairs of shorts. I barely had any summer clothes because I didn't really need them where I was from. Here that was all they wore so I needed to buy a lot. While I was waiting for Becca at the food court I decided to get something to eat. I was looking around trying to decide where to go when I accidently bumped into someone standing in one of the lines.

"I'm sorr-"I stopped midsentence as I saw who it was I had bumped into. Shane. He smiled when he saw me, but it slowly faded when I didn't return it. I don't know what look I had on my face but it was enough for him to look disappointed and slightly angry.

"Someone told you, didn't they?" I just nodded. He gave me a rueful look and started to turn away.

I finally gained the ability to speak again "Wait! Why don't you tell me what happened? I want to hear your side of the story."

He looked at me curiously like he wondered if I was crazy.

We sat down and for a minute he just sat there like he was thinking. Just when I thought he wasn't going to talk at all he finally spoke. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes, definitely. I don't believe anyone would kill someone else for no reason. So I want to know. And if you didn't do it I want to know why people think you did."

He raised his eyebrow and began the story. "It was about 5 years ago when I was 12. My parents had to go out that night so it was just me and my brother in the house alone. I was lying in bed when I heard a scream. I snuck out of my room and didn't see anything. I looked down the hall and saw that my brother's door was cracked open. I went in to see and…" He stopped and looked away so I couldn't see the expression on his face. Pain? Anger? Fear? I didn't know. A second later he continued, "I opened the door and all I saw was my brother laying there on his bed like always. The only difference this time was that he had a knife sticking out of his chest. Not really thinking I ran over and pulled the knife out. I couldn't stand to see him that way."

"Why do people think that you did it then?" He gave a bitter laugh.

"Apparently the person that killed him was really good at covering their tracks. The police couldn't find any fingerprints other than mine and there was no sign of a break-in at our house. All the signs pointed to me. I was the only suspect. Nobody asked if I was the one that actually killed him. They never even gave me a chance to explain. Nobody ever has, until now that is. You are the only person that has ever asked, and the only one who knows what really happened."

For a minute I wasn't sure what to say. "Well I'm glad you told me."

•

On Monday I went to my first class with Becca and saw that Shane was in that class with me. He was sitting in the corner of the room with the desk next to him empty. With a jolt I realized that I didn't care what any of these people thought. I could feel every pair of eyes turn to me as I walked over and sat next to him. I heard a couple soft gasps like they thought I was risking my life. But I guess they thought Shane was a killer so to them I might as well have been.

I tried to ignore all the stares people were giving me, but then I looked over and saw that Shane was staring at me too. I was about to ask him what was up when the teacher cleared his throat. Everyone's attention turned back to him and he started class.

About half way through the period Shane slid a note over to me, I read it silently:

_What are you doing? _

Slightly confused I responded. _What do you mean? _

_You just started here; you don't want everyone to hate you too, do you? _

_I don't really care. If I want to be your friend I'm not going to let other people interfere, never have and never will. _

A sigh of frustration from Shane. _Please? I don't care if we hang out outside of school or whatever but I don't want you to be unhappy here. You seem like a really nice person and you could be really happy here… if you don't associate with me in public. Please…? _

_How do we hang out outside of school? _

_The Mall, we could meet every Saturday and do whatever and not have to worry about people seeing us. _

_Fine. But wait, I don't have a car… _

_I could drive you I guess. People won't really see us in the parking lot. _

_Fine. Deal. _

At lunch I went and sat down with Becca and her friends. As soon as I got there they all stopped and stared at me. I knew that I didn't have to worry about telling them about Shane. Obviously they already knew.

"Are you insane?" Becca asked incredulously, "I told you to stay away from him!"

"Yeah, well I've never been very good at listening to directions." They all looked at me like I was crazy. "He didn't actually kill his brother!"

"And was he the one that told you that?" Lea asked in her snide, bitchy way "I mean jeez it is possible for people to lie ya know." She rolled her eyes.

I shook my head. "No one is that good of an actor. You can't fake that kind of thing."

All of the sudden Nathan decided to join the conversation, "Come with me. I can introduce you to some nice people." He grabbed my arm and dragged me with him to another table. The table he brought me to had about 6 people at it. They looked like the preppy kind of people, the really annoying kind.

"Hey guys, this is Brooke. It's her first day here so I thought I'd try to help her make some friends."

One girl smiled and said "Hey weren't you in my first class? I saw you were sitting with Shane. I guess you probably didn't know about him then?" Before I could respond she continued, "Would you like to sit with me tomorrow instead? I'm sure the teacher will understand." I wanted to yell at her and tell her that I wanted to sit with Shane. But then I remembered Shane and I's agreement.

I put on a fake grateful smile. "Sure that would be great! Anyway it was nice meeting you guys, I'll see you later!" I walked away and rolled my eyes to myself. Thinking about how fake and stupid I had sounded.

I got back to the table and glanced over at Shane, there were kids over there talking to him but they didn't look happy. Shane looked like he was mocking them. The growing look of irritation had me worried about Shane's safety. I looked closer and saw that the kids were a couple of muscular jocks. All of the sudden one of them started to draw his fist back.

I jumped out of my seat and ran over, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"This is none of your business! Get out of here!" One of the jocks said without taking his eyes off Shane. I raised my eyebrow. He did not just talk to me like that.

"The hell it isn't! What reason do you have to bother him at all?" The one that spoke before looked surprised, he opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off, "You need to leave now." I even surprised myself with that. If it was anyone else, I'm ashamed to say, I probably wouldn't have done anything. But the fact that it was Shane they were bullying changed the situation. For some reason I felt very protective of him.

Surprisingly the jock actually listened, they all walked away glaring at me. I looked around surprised to see that everyone in the cafeteria was staring at me. For some reason this really bothered me. I rolled my eyes at them and sat down beside Shane. Turns out he was staring at me too. A shocked look on his face.

I walked over, grabbed my lunch and purse and sat back down beside Shane. Murmurs and whispers broke out and filled the room. I ate my lunch quietly ignoring everyone else. I didn't care what they thought I knew I had done the right thing in defending Shane.

"What was that?" Shane asked me in a hushed tone.

"He was going to hit you" I said simply.

Shane looked at me like I was crazy, "You're not supposed to care! Remember?"

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever I'm not ashamed that I defended you and I guess now that the cat is out of the bag I don't have to worry about avoiding you at school."

"You've got balls, I'll admit that. Do you know how many times anyone has ever stood up to them?" I raised an eyebrow. "It's a total of one as of today." I raised both my eyebrows this time. Maybe it was a good thing I did it then. No one deserves to get away with stuff like that and not be punished.

"Then I guess it was about time that somebody did don't you think?" He just shook his head slowly, incredulously.

Things were going to change at this school, whether I had to do it myself or not.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. I joined the track team, but it had started not too long ago so it wasn't too late to start. Becca and her whole group stopped talking to me but I didn't really care. I could be friends with Shane and not have to hide it. I was happy.

All too soon it was Saturday. Today was the day I could be with Shane without having to endure the glares from other people and we could both just be ourselves.

When the bell signaling the end of last class rang I ran out of the classroom heading to my dorm to change out of my uniform.

I put on my best pair of jeans and a nice casual shirt so it didn't look like I was trying too hard.

Walking out the door I checked my pockets for everything I needed: wallet, lip gloss, and …. I realized I didn't have my phone. I looked at the clock. I had to meet Shane by his car in 2 minutes. I hoped he wouldn't think I bailed on him. I would never do that.

After a minute of searching there was a knock at the door. I got up off the floor where I was searching under the bed to open the door. On the other side stood Shane.

I gave him an apologetic look "I'm so sorry, I'm not ditching you I swear I just can't find my phone!" I said as I checked my nightstand. "Come on in, it will just take another minute." He came in and shut the door. I kept checking places like my nightstand and under my dresser but couldn't find it. Then all of the sudden… duh! "Hey Shane could you just call my phone?"

"Sure" he said smiling. I followed the sound of my ringtone leading me to the closet in my uniform pocket. Why didn't I think to look there?

"Got it! Let's go." Just as I was reaching for the door handle it started turning itself, which meant Becca was coming in. I couldn't let her see Shane because boys and girls weren't allowed in each other's rooms. Thinking quickly I motioned for Shane to go in the closet and shut the door.

Becca came in and I smiled at her, hoping I didn't look as nervous as I felt. She just gave me a weird look and continued what she was doing. She went over to her side of the room and picked up her lip gloss.

"Can I get in the closet quick?" she asked.

"No." she raised her eyebrow. "I mean…I'll just get whatever it is for you. What do you need?"

She gave me a look like I'd completely lost it. "No, I can get it myself thanks." she tried to go around me but I stepped in front of her again.

"No, really. I don't mind." I said staying in her way as she tried to get past me.

"Brooke, what is your problem? Why are you acting so weird?"

"Ok. Becca, I have to ask you one thing before you open the closet. Do you trust me?"

"Brooke, don't ask stupid questions." She said rolling her eyes.

"It's not a stupid question, just answer it."

"Fine. Yes, I trust you. Now can I get my jacket?" I stepped aside so that she could open the closet door. When she opened it and saw Shane she stopped. She opened her mouth to scream but I covered it before the sound could escape.

She glared at me and removed my hand. "What the he-" I stopped her and pulled her out into the hallway. I quickly stuck my head back in the door and told Shane to wait a minute. "What the hell is he doing in there?!" she asked in a loud whisper.

"Becca just calm down. Okay?" I said trying to keep our voices low.

"How can I calm down when you let a murderer in our room?" she asked looking at me like I was a murderer's accomplice.

"He didn't kill anyone."

"Yeah and I don't have a crazy roommate." She said rolling her eyes "Of course he did! The police even said so."

"Did the police also say they didn't really give him a chance to explain what happened?" She didn't have a reply to that so I kept talking, "You people go through life thinking that just because someone tells you something then it must be true. People lie. But Shane is not one of those people. He is actually one of the most honest people I know. So when you decide to start listening to the truth, come talk to me."

I opened the door and grabbed Shane's arm. It was time to go.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe the nerve of some people!" I said while Shane and I were on our way to his car. "They are so narrow minded and only believe what they want." I slammed the car door as I got in.

"Okay, I get it but you don't have to take it out on my car. Just sayin'."

"Sorry. That thing with Becca just really upset me."

"Obviously, but its fine." He said with an understanding smile. "So I was thinking that instead of going to the mall, we could just go get pizza or something because I'm starving."

"Okay, Sure"

When we got to the pizza place we talked about random things while we were waiting for our food.

Shane started the conversation. "So Brooke, there is this fair next weekend There's going to be rides and games. We should go."

"Sounds great, we are so going. I think it'll be fun." I said smiling. After dinner we went back to the dorm and said good night.

When next weekend came I was very excited. I had an hour until I was supposed to meet Shane in the parking lot. I took a shower and then blow dried and straightened my hair.

I got in my drawer and pulled out a pair of shorts I had just bought about a week ago and laid them on the bed. Then I pulled out one of my ACDC shirts and a pair of sandals. I got dressed and did my makeup, with 5 minutes to spare. I checked my pockets for everything: Phone, Money, and ID. I had everything this time.

We got to the fair and looked around. What to do first…

"Hey, want to go on the Ferris Wheel?" Shane suggested. I made a face. "C'mon it's not that bad. You're not scared are you?" I shook my head. No way was I going to let him win that battle. How bad could it be?

I found out just how bad it could be when we got on. As we went higher and higher I got sick to my stomach. I decided not to look down, but even when I wasn't looking down I could see how high up we were. I could see everything. I got nervous butterflies in my stomach, which didn't help my nausea.

I put my face in Shane shoulder to cover my eyes. I heard him chuckle. "It's not funny." I said, my voice slightly muffled.

"No it's hilarious," he said chuckling again. I lifted my head long enough to show him my sad puppy dog face. I knew it had worked when I saw a little bit of guilt on his face.

On the second time around I felt the ride suddenly stop. My stomach clenched. "Shane?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did the ride stop?" I asked nervously.

"I don't think you want me to answer that question." He said. I looked up and instantly regretted it. We were at the very top of the Ferris Wheel and we weren't moving. I felt like I was going to cry.

"Why did we stop?" I said hoping my guess was wrong, and the ride wasn't broken.

"I think it broke down… but don't worry" he said quickly "There are people working on it now." I know it sounds pathetic but I whined and covered my eyes with Shane's shoulder again. He put his arm around me to comfort me which actually did help a little. It distracted me from thinking about the height and had me thinking of how good it felt to have his arm around me.

For a second I wished that the ride would just stay broken and we could stay like this forever. I looked up at him, but he was already looking at me. His gaze was intense and for some reason I couldn't look away. Suddenly I realized we were slowly getting closer to each other. A second later, so close…. One more inch. My eyes closed and right before our lips met, a sudden jerk broke us out of our trance.

He looked away. I don't know why he looked so embarrassed. It was like we were caught doing something bad. I looked down, but knew that this awkwardness couldn't last forever so I tried to act like nothing happened and made casual conversation.

"So what next?" I asked him smiling.

"I don't know about you but I'm in the mood for some ice cream," he said seeming to think the same thing I was. Get rid of the awkwardness.

"Can you get mine for me? I want to try this game." I pointed at the dart game we were walking past.

"Sure" he said and I handed him a couple dollars which should be enough.

I tried the dart game 3 times but couldn't manage to pop more than one balloon. I had my eye on a stuffed animal Pokémon, Pikachu. But I just couldn't get it. I walked away disappointed.

At that moment Shane came back. He saw the look on my face. "Couldn't get it?" I shook my head. He looked like he couldn't stand to see me sad so he said, "Would you like me to try to get it for you?" My face lit up.

"Would you?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure." I tried to hand him money but he wouldn't take it. "It's okay. I got this." He actually won! I jumped up and down when he got the Pikachu for me.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you soo much!" I said hugging the Pikachu toy.

He laughed. "You're welcome." He handed me my ice cream and my change.

I pointed at his cone, and laughed. "Hurry its melting!"

He pointed at mine. "So is yours." We both frantically started eating our ice cream trying not to let it drip everywhere.

All of the sudden I got a devious idea. I had to get him back somehow for making me go on the Ferris Wheel. I took my ice cream cone and smashed it on his head. I laughed and started running knowing he would want to retaliate.

Sure enough I looked behind me and he was running after me. I picked up speed so I could get a chance to try and hide. Being a runner really did help. I managed to speed up enough that I could get out of his sight. I found a tree to hide behind and waited until I caught my breath to peek behind it.

I didn't see Shane anywhere. I scanned the crowd but couldn't find him. I lost him! I laughed to myself. Suddenly someone grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back. I knew it had to be Shane. How did he find me? I lost my train of thought when I felt something ice cold go down my shirt.

I screamed and looked back to see Shane running away. Oh no, he wasn't going to get away now. I ran after him trying to catch up. He got a head start. When I finally did I didn't bother waiting I just tackled him to the ground and started tickling him.

Both of us out of breath and sitting on the ground just laughing, people were staring at us like we were a couple of psychos. Which I guess we were kind of acting like it.

I looked over to see a security guard coming towards us. I told Shane and we both sobered instantly.

The officer stopped in front of us. "How old are you two?"

"Seventeen." I said quietly.

"You better start acting like that. We don't like the kind of behavior you two are displaying." We both nodded. He mumbled something about teenagers making the town look trashy and walked away.

Shane and I looked at each other with the same shocked look on both of our faces and started laughing. I got up and held my hand out to him to help him up. He took it, still laughing.

"Well I guess we have no choice but to go home now." I said looking at the ice-cream on his head and trying to get the rest out of my shirt.

He laughed "Agreed."

When we got back Shane walked me back to my room. It was quiet but not an awkward kind of quiet, more of a content one.

We got to my door. "Well thank you for suggesting the fair. I had a lot of fun."

"Me too. Sorry about the ice-cream down your shirt." He laughed not sounding very apologetic.

"Well I'm sorry for the ice-cream all through your hair." We both laughed this time.

Then Shane just looked at me "How is it that I've only known you for two weeks but yet I feel like I've known you my whole life?" I didn't say anything "You are the only person I feel like I can be myself around…" The way he was looking at me gave me butterflies.

Then suddenly just like on the Ferris Wheel we started getting closer to each other, like we were hypnotized. But unlike on the Ferris wheel there was nothing to stop us this time. Slowly our lips met and I realized I felt the same way he said he felt about me. I didn't have to hide my true self around him. I could be me and he would accept me.

"Hey! What are you doing in here?" The dorm advisor yelled. Me and Shane jumped apart. "Son you need to leave now." Then without looking back at me he left down the hall.

I went into my room and just rested against the door. I realized I was smiling like a complete idiot with a dazed look on my face.

"Why are you so happy?" I jumped at Becca's voice. I hadn't even realized she was there.

I just shook my head and kept smiling. She was persistent though "I think I know. It was something with you and Shane wasn't it." My smile got bigger "I knew it! Tell me everything!" I looked at her, confused.

"Why? You don't even like him." I said

"So! Doesn't mean I don't want to hear about you with him. He may be a murderer but that doesn't mean he's not hot." I had the urge to argue with her again about the murderer thing but I decided not to spoil my good mood.

"Ok so we went to this fair…" I told her everything that had happened and she seemed to get More and more excited as the story went on. When I finally started telling her about the part in the hallway, She jumped up and down.

"So are you guys like a couple now?" she asked me

I frowned "I don't really know what we are at the moment. I didn't get to talk to him after the kiss." She looked disappointed.

"You need to find out first thing Monday morning." She said. I hoped I would because I didn't know if I could be just friends with him after that.


	4. Chapter 4

Shane and I were sitting at our lunch table on Monday just messing around and talked when I saw someone sit beside me. I looked over to see May looking at me shyly. "Hey… could I maybe sit with you?" We both just kind of sat there for a minute stunned. She looked uncertain "Um… I guess I'll just leave…"

I finally snapped out of it said "No, No! I mean of course you can sit here. I was just surprised." She smiled and sat back down.

"No offence but why are sitting here. I thought you were part of that group that hates us." Shane said to her.

"Well the thing is... I don't really agree with how they treat you guys." she said "I would like to hear what you told Brooke... about your brother." I smiled at her. Change starts with one person, and May was first. Shane told May the same thing he told me the first time I asked him about the murder of his brother.

When he finished explaining May just sat there with a look of mostly guilt but a little pity. "Shane I'm so sorry. We have treated you bad all these years... You didn't deserve any of it. I don't know what to do to make it up to you but i will any way i can."

"Thanks May, it means a lot that you said that. You don't have to repay me or anything, the apology's enough." She gave him a grateful look.

"Okay, so back to our former argument." I said "I think it would be best for graduated high school students to take a year before going to college."

"What is the point in that? You would just do nothing for a year instead of getting a head start on college. That is one year earlier that you would get out." He said

"But waiting a year would give you time to get everything you need ready and spend time with family before you either have to leave again." I looked over at Shane, he was holding a spoon full of pudding, like he was going to fling it at me. I Flinched, "You wouldn't." he raised his eyebrow and laughed

"Try me." he said. Of course I didn't believe he would so I put a defiant look on my face. He shrugged and let the food fly. I managed to duck right before it hit me. And of course because we have such good luck it hit one of the jocks that were going to beat Shane up.

"Hey!" the kid said as he turned around to see where the food had come from. His eyes landed on Shane, he faced twisted in rage. The kid picked up some of the mystery meat on his tray and threw it at Shane, but of course Shane dodged it and it ended up hitting another random kid. From there it was like dominos, which started a food fight. May, Shane, and I hid under a table. Shane was laughing, I shook my head at him, trying to look disappointed in him but I couldn't keep myself from smiling.

I looked at the clock. The bell was going to ring in about two minutes. I motioned for Shane and may to follow as I headed toward the door. We crawled most of the way but at the same time trying to dodge the flying food on the way.

As soon as we got out of the cafeteria the bell rang and we rushed to our classes.

When class started I looked around at the rest of the kids who all seemed to be covered in food. It was all I could do not to not to bust out laughing. They seemed to notice that I didn't have anything on me and glared at me.

About half way through the period an announcement came on "Would Brooke Waters, Shane Collins, and Josh Avery please report to the principal's office." Everyone looked at me. As I was walking out I heard people snickering. Who was Josh Avery? That was my question.

When I was about to open the office door I someone walking down the hall seeming to be heading the same place as me. I looked and saw that it was the jock from the cafeteria, looking very pissed off. That must be Josh Avery.

I walked in the principal's office and saw Shane was already in there. I sat down next to him and Josh sat 2 seats away. I looked over at Shane. He was smiling!

I elbowed him "It's not funny!" I whispered.

His smile got bigger "Yes it is, and you know it." I just shook my head looking away so he couldn't see my smile.

The principal walked in and we instantly sobered. He didn't say anything, just sat down on his desk and started moving papers around.

Finally he looked at us "I want to know what the hell you were thinking." He stopped. Trying to calm himself down, because he was yelling. He took a deep breath. "Why would you start a food fight in my school?" None of us answered. "Well since you are so fond of playing with food, it will be the job of you three to clean the cafeteria." He handed us each a slip that said that right after school today we were to report to the cafeteria.

As soon as we got out the door Shane and Josh both started running, Shane from Josh and Josh after Shane. I could run faster that both of them so I went after them and managed to get a few feet in front of Josh and Stopped. He skidded to a stop right before he plowed into me.

I slapped him across the face then said, "You need to calm down. We all have the same punishment. It is as much your fault as it is ours. And the punishment would be a lot easier to deal with if you weren't trying to kill Shane every time you get near him. Got it?" I didn't even know where that came from. I guess it was that protective thing again. It seemed to work though. Looking very surprised but a little annoyed he walked away to his class.

I looked at Shane and realized he was already looking at me with and expression that I couldn't identify mixed with a little shock.

"What?" I asked him.

"Wow." He said "That… was… Awesome!" I laughed "Seriously, did you see his face? Holy crap, I've never seen anyone stand up to him like that. And slapping him? Impressive." I smiled "Any way I'll see you after school" he walked away.

After school Shane, Josh, and I met in the lunch room. There was a teacher there ready to give us instructions.

They already had the stuff set out for us. A mop, rags, buckets. The teacher told Shane to clean the tables and gave him a rag and bucket. They instructed me to do the floor and handed me the mop and a bucket. Then Josh was left with cleaning the walls.

After a while our jobs became automatic and I didn't even have to think about what I was doing. In what seemed like no time I finished and looked over to see Shane finishing up too. I looked over at Josh and kind of felt bad for him. He was only half way finished. He had had the hardest job and the most to clean.

I motioned for Shane to come over to me. When he got there I pointed at Josh.

"What do u say we help him?"

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"C'mon it's the least we can do. We were the ones who actually started it."

"I can't I have homework and we've been here for an hour already" I knew he was lying about having homework but I went along with it any way.

I sighed "You go and ill help." He looked like he didn't want to leave me with Josh but I said "I'll bee fine. Trust me."

"Okay, but let me know when you're safe back in your dorm."

I rolled my eyes "Fine" I said and went over to help Josh. Josh looked over at me a confused look on his face but he didn't say anything.

It went much quicker with two people working on the walls so we were done soon after that.

I started back to my dorm. I grabbed out my phone and dialed Shane's number. When he answered I screamed into the phone.

"What the hell!" Shane said

"Just letting you know that I'm alive." I said laughing

"Did you have to do it so loudly? Jeez I think I might be deaf now." I laughed

"No, but it's not as fun being quietly."

He sighed "What am I going to do with you?"

"You should keep me."

"And why is that?"

I ignored his question and said "So did you get your "homework" done?"

"I lied about having homework."

"No dip. I knew that, I'm not completely stupid."

"So why didn't you call me on it and make me stay and help?"

"It's simple, now I get to find a way for payback."


	5. Chapter 5

I love Fridays. I don't know if I could survive without them. I sighed and sat down in my usual spot beside Shane. The loud speaker clicked on and everyone quieted to hear the announcement.

The voice said "Prom tickets will be sold Monday through Friday every day after school in the cafeteria. Tickets are nine for singles and 20 for couples. Prom will be held next Saturday in the school gym." When the announcement was over everyone started talking excitedly about who they wanted to ask them or who they wanted to ask. I glanced at Shane and noticed that he was looking at me too. Then he looked away. I didn't see him make any facial expressions that indicated that he would ask me. I was a little disappointed then.

I kept waiting in my other classes for him to even mention prom, but he never did.

We never really talked about the day we kissed after the carnival. But I guess it was just one time. Maybe it didn't mean anything. One kiss doesn't automatically mean that he likes me enough to ask me out or to prom. I really, really wanted to go with him though.

"What are you thinking about?" I jumped. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I forgot that Shane was walking with me. We stopped.

"What?" I asked

"You've just been really quiet today is something wrong?"

"No"

He looked a little worried "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine"

He didn't look convinced "Really."

I smiled "C'mon" I said pulling him into the cafeteria, trying to erase his suspicion.

When we got to our lunch table May was already there. She watched us walk over I could tell by the excited look on her face that she wanted to tell me something. She looked like she was ready to explode.

When we sat down May blurted, "Brooke, I have to tell you something!"

"So tell me" I said

"Okay So I got a date to prom!"

"Really? Who?" I asked excited for her.

"Jake" She said looking like she was going to jump out of her seat.

"That's awesome!" I said, hugging her. "Congrats."

"This is going to be so fun. You and I can go and pick out dresses together- "I stopped smiling "What's wrong?"

I shrugged "Well I don't know if I'm going."

"What do you mean…?" she looked over at Shane

I shook my head to let her know that he hadn't asked me. I must have looked sad then because May looked at me with a little pity.

"Hey don't worry someone will ask you."

"Yeah" I said "They might, but I don't want to go with someone else I want to go with Shane." I sighed

Even when we did our Saturday mall hang out prom never came up. For some reason the next week I secretly hoped he would ask me even though I knew he wasn't going to.

I decided that I would just go alone. So on Wednesday May and I went to pick out dresses.

May's dress was perfect for her. It was strapless and a lavender color. It was up to her knees in the front but got longer in the back. There was no design on it, it was just plain.

Mine was the same type of dress as May's, strapless, short in the front long in the back. The difference between our dresses though was mine was a sky blue color. Around the waist was a black sash that tied in the back, with blue flowers and black feathers around it.

Back at my dorm room I went to hang the dress bag in the closet but not before Becca said "Is that your prom dress? Oh let me see!"

I smiled. I lay the bag on my bed and unzipped it to show her.

"Brooke it's amazing! And it's perfect for you! Shane will love it." I didn't say anything. "He did ask you right?" I shook my head. I put the dress away and she was still looking at me. "But I thought you guys… Did you ever talk to him about the kiss?" I shook my head

"It's ok I'll just go alone." She gave the same look May had but just let it go.

"Anyway I'm going to go get my ticket now do you want to come?" I asked Becca

"Nah. I think I'm going to try and get some homework done." She said

I was walking when someone came up next to me.

"Hey" the person said I looked over and didn't answer. I was to confused as to why this person was talking to me.

"Hey, Josh" I said hesitantly

"Going to get you and Shane's prom ticket?" he asked. Where was this conversation heading?

"Actually, just mine." I said still suspicious. Why did he care? He looked genuinely surprised.

"Aren't you two dating?" I was starting to get depressed all over again about that then I thought Is that the impression he had gotten? Pushing the thought out of my head I asked "Why do you care?"

"Oh well um…" He actually looked nervous. I wonder why? "I was kind of wondering if you wanted to go with me? To prom I mean." He looked incredibly nervous. I was completely shocked. This is the guy I had slapped and humiliated in the cafeteria. And now he was asking me to prom? Guys are weird… "I mean if you don't want to that's fine…"

Finally I figured I would put him out of his misery. "Um… sure I guess I'll go with you to prom." He looked relieved and smiled

"Okay then I guess I'll go get our ticket. See you later!" Then he jogged away. What had I just gotten myself into?

I walked back to my dorm thinking of all the worst case scenarios. Now I just hoped I would make it through prom night alive.

I walked in to the room and Becca started talking "I got two of my assignments do- hey what's wrong?" she asked seeing the look on my face.

"Josh just asked me to prom." She looked as shocked as I felt.

"Josh that you yelled at and slapped across the face?" she asked. I nodded "What the heck? Guys are weird…"

I nodded again "That's exactly what I thought."

So on Wednesday I was walking with Shane to our classes like usual when all of the sudden he says.

"So Brooke I was wondering if you were going to prom..." he said. Oh gosh please don't let him ask me now! I still wanted to go with him but I couldn't just ditch Josh. "And if you were... Well I was wondering if you would maybe want to go with me…"

I put my face in my hands. I couldn't believe I was going to have to say this.

"Shane, I would have loved to go with you and I waited for you to ask me but I thought you weren't going to... so I accepted someone else's offer…" It got really awkward after that. I hated to see that disappointed look on his face. "I'm really sorry. I really wanted to go with you but..."

"No, I mean I understand. You snooze you lose." He said looking sad "I'll see you later" and he walked away.

"Bye..."

Prom day, all day my emotions were a mix of being nervous and excited. For some reason I had a feeling, I couldn't shake. A feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I seemed so plain, brown hair that did nothing it just hung there straight shoulder length. Blue eyes, the only thing I liked because when I'm in the sun they look brighter and stick out.

I asked Becca to make me beautiful, nothing like myself. I asked for a complete change. When she was done, I realized she definitely achieved that goal. The girl looking back at me in the mirror looked like an angel; she looked nothing like me but seemed to follow all my actions so she must be me.

"Thank you so much Becca!" I told her, still staring at my reflection.

"No problem Hun. You look amazing." She said smiling

**Shane POV**

I really messed it up with Brooke. If I'd have just asked her instead of being stupid and nervous, she would be with me right now. I decided to go to prom anyway. Maybe I would get to dance with her once.

I was walking to the gym where they had everything set up when someone bumped into me.

"Hey, watch it!" Lea said. "Look who it is. Guess even Brooke ditched you now huh?" Lea had on a short scarlet red dress. I ignored her comment because seeing her in that color triggered a memory. A memory from when I was twelve, the night my brother died… A flash of red outside the window of my brothers room. Pieces slowly clicked together until I saw the full picture.

"It was you…" I said

"Excuse me?" she said in her bitchy way

"You killed my brother." I said more clearly this time. I continued, not giving her a chance to respond. Thoughts were going through my head so quick I had to speak them all so I didn't forget. "When we were little our parents knew each other, but they hated each other. Like a never ending feud, they were always finding a way to hurt the other. They took it too far the last time. That's when they had you do it wasn't it?

"I never realized how screwed up they were until now. They wanted to hurt them so bad that they killed my parents favorite son." I was talking so fast I had to stop and breathe.

Lea just looked at me like she didn't car that I knew "Congratulations, you figured it out. So what are you going to do now? Tell the police? Nobody will believe you, especially after all these years. There is no proof other than your word. And you want to know what happened? Okay, they taught me how to do it without getting caught. And why me and not one of them you might ask. Well who is going to suspect a 12 year old girl of murder? Well now you know everything but like I said you can't do anything with the information. And as for telling Brooke, Even if she tells someone, they could just think that you lied to her. So I guess you're screwed." She smiled at me in a way that made her look evil and walked away. Sadly I knew she was right. I was known as the murderer, why would they think I wouldn't lie too?

Right behind where Lea had been standing was Brooke. She looked shocked.

"She was right I would not have guessed that…" she said "But luckily the people at the police station won't have to." I looked at her questioningly. She held up her phone "I got here at the beginning of her major confession and recorded it."

I hugged her tightly "Brooke, you are a genius! Thank you! So where is your date?" I asked looking around

"He got in a fight and wasn't allowed to attend." She shrugged. "So if it's not too late for me… would you like to go to prom with me?" she laughed. I looked at her and saw how beautiful she looked and couldn't believe that someone that amazing liked me.

"Of course. And by the way you look amazing." I held my arm out for her. She took it.

"For the record you don't look too bad yourself." She said and we walked to the dance together. It seemed that some things in my life were finally going right.

**Brooke POV**

When we walked into prom everyone stared, but we ignored it. People usually did when Shane and I were around like they were afraid that we were going to randomly go on a killing spree.

I pulled Shane straight to the dance floor but when I did a slow song came on. Shane and I both looked at each other shyly. I decided then that I was going to get over my shyness. I started with dancing.

"Would you like to dance?" I said smiling

He smiled "I'd love to" For the rest of the night after that nothing was awkward. We could completely be ourselves and not have to hide our feelings.

So Lea ended up going to prison. When the cops came and picked her up, everybody was looking like it was some kind of show, Lea trying to resist and shouting threats at people was kind of interesting.

I looked at Shane and he looked slightly sad "You okay?"

He nodded "You know, I know this sounds weird but in a way I forgive her. I mean when you're a kid you will do anything your parents tell you just to make them happy." I understood. I leaned against his shoulder as we watched the cop car drive away.


End file.
